Wolverhampton Man Jailed For Life For Stabbing Joshua Price To Death

7 December 2016, 17:24 | Updated: 7 December 2016, 18:18

A Wolverhampton man's been jailed for life for the murder of a 21-year-old found stabbed to death.

Joshua Price was attacked in a drug deal gone wrong in the city in 2014.

David Watkins who's 27 and form Stowlawn will serve a minimum of 29 years.  He arranged a drug deal with Joshua for a small amount of cannabis, but had no intention of paying. He stabbed Joshua five times.

He and another man, 21-year-old Jake Henson from Bilston, who was cleared of murder, then went back to take Joshua's phone.

Detective Inspector Warren Hines led the enquiry. He said: "We had a very clear picture of the events of that evening from CCTV cameras in the area and witness accounts, but the offender had dressed himself in dark clothing and covered his face, so we had difficulty in identifying him.

"Then at the end of October Henson told his mother a distorted version of the truth about his involvement in Joshua’s death. His mother, who knew Joshua and his family, was put in a difficult situation, but did the right thing and reported what she knew at a police station.

"Henson and Watkins were arrested a short time later."

Both sought to weave an incredible web of lies, denying being at the location and even blaming each other for what happened that night, but an intensive police investigation uncovered the attempted deception and the jury found Watkins guilty of Joshua’s murder after a three week trial, which also saw Henson acquitted.

DI Hines added: "We will never know the reason for the attack on Joshua, but the tragedy is that Joshua had his whole life ahead of him with his partner and his son and this was cruelly cut short."
 
Just after his death Joshua’s girlfriend Megan Campbell, said: "I loved Josh loads…we have been together for four years. He was a great father and partner and will be deeply missed."

Watkins was sentenced to life in prison and will have to serve at least 29 years before he will be considered for parole.